Top Five Pink Zebra Sprinkles That Should Be

5. Pipe Smoke
4. Nitrocellulose
3. Gun Oil
2. Saw Dust
1. Bacon

We Sing...

We sing "Come, Now Is the Time to Worship," as long as that time ends at 12:00 sharp.
We sing "We Bow Down," but we don't.
We sing "Come, Christians, Join to Sing," but many simply refuse to do so.
We sing "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever," but we're tired of it after three minutes.
We sing "Here I Am to Worship," but we showed up late and sleepy.
We sing "Shout to the Lord," but we don't.
We sing "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," but we rarely use the one that we have.
We sing "You Are My All in All," as long as it's Sunday morning.
We sing "Go, Tell It on the Mountain," but we won't go across the street.
We sing "How Great Our Joy," but we forget to let our faces know.
We sing "Tell Me the Story of Jesus," but hope the preacher doesn't take too long doing it.
We sing "Standing on the Promises," but we're really just sitting on the premisis.
We sing "I Know Whom I Have Believed," just don't ask us about Him.
We sing "I Am Resolved," but we change our minds again.
We sing "Sweet Hour of Prayer," but we barely pray for a few minutes.
We sing "I Surrender All," but we don't mean it.
We sing "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus," as long as we get to lead.
We sing "Wherever He Leads I'll Go," as long as it's comfortable.
We sing "We'll Work Till Jesus Comes," but don't ask us to do anything.
We sing "Take Time to Be Holy," but we don't make it back to the evening service.
We sing "Find Us Faithful," but really people will find us faltering.
We sing "Shall We Gather at the River," but we struggle with gathering together on Sunday.
We sing "God Give Us Christian Homes," as long as it's an American version of Christianity.

What is wrong with us?

October Reading

1. Why Not Just Be Christians? - Vance Havner
2. The Spiritual World of the Hobbit - James Stuart Bell
3. Father Brown: The Essential Tales - G. K. Chesterton
4. Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science - Susan Hughes
5. More Than A Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte - Frances Mossiker
6. Selected Poems and Four Plays - William Butler Yeats
7. Literature: A Student's Guide - Louis Markos
8. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
9. The Secret of Pirate's Hill - Franklin W. Dixon
10. The House of Hades - Rick Riordan
11. SPLASH: Show People Love And Share Him - Ken & Paula Hemphill
12. The Pilgrim's Regress - C. S. Lewis

Store It Up

There is great value in knowing God's Word.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."  2 Timothy 3:16-17

"I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You."  Psalm 119:11

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Psalm 119:105

So often, people fail to memorize Scripture because they fail to try.  Excuses abound.  However, memorizing Scripture doesn't have to be an overwhelming, daunting task.  Anyone, young or old, can do it.

There are many strategic methods for learning Scripture by heart, but perhaps the simplest is to use 3" x 5" index cards.  Index cards are advantageous for a few reasons.  First, they are lined. That helps with writing part.  Second, index cards are easy to hold (in small quantities anyway).  They are handy, if you will.  Third, because of their size, they are portable.  You can easily take them anywhere.  Last, because they are made of paper, a little piece of tape will allow you to attach one just about anywhere: on the mirror, on the dash of your car, in your locker, on the refrigerator, by the door, etc.

Over time, learning one verse by heart each week, you will have learned 52 verses in a year.  Of course, that would be the minimum.  You can learn as much as you set your heart and mind to memorize.

Top Five Pink Zebra Sprinkles

Here is my top five list of favorite Pink Zebra sprinkles.

5.  Napa Leather
4.  Paisley's Punch
3.  Fresh Juicy Pineapple
2.  Orange Dreamsicle
1.  Hot Buttered Rum

For more information about Pink Zebra or if you would like to order some for yourself (or for a friend or family member), click here.

Does Prayer Posture Matter?

On the one hand, no; prayer posture doesn't matter.  You can pray anywhere, anytime, and in any position.  Certainly, if you are praying while driving your car, by all means, keep your head up and your eyes open.  That's all well and good when you go about praying throughout your busy, hectic day.  I know of a chaplain in a youth detention center who learned very quickly to pray out loud with eyes wide open.
On the other hand, prayer posture matters a great deal.  This is especially true in your regularly scheduled times of prayer.  You know, when it comes time to go into your prayer closet, or even in a corporate worship service.  It all comes down our attitude as we approach the throne of God in prayer.  What the body does affects the soul.
Listen to what C. S. Lewis had to say about it through his infamously devilish character--Uncle Screwtape.
"At the very least, they (Christians) can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you (Wormwood) must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."*
Bowing the head, kneeling, prostrating, hands lifted up, etc. are all actions of surrender and submission.  Submission is a wonderful idea when you're talking to God.  Through these actions, you're telling your body something, and in turn your bodily position will affect your mind as you pray.

*C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics (2002), 194-195.

September Reading

1. Perelandra - C. S. Lewis
2. The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision - Kevin J. Vanhoozer & Owen Strachan
3. C. S. Lewis: Images of His World - Douglas Gilbert & Clyde S. Kilby
4. Gorgias - Plato
5. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War (1931-1949) - Walter Hooper, Editor
6. That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis

Riddles, Jokes, and Fiddle Smoke

It's a riddle
It's a joke
Gets lots of laughs
From lots of folk

It's a fiddle
Lots of smoke
Gets lots of claps
From lots of folk

The Frog

At the puddle, at the pond
When I hail the frog, he'll respond
"Can't you change me with a magic wand?"

"No," I'll say, "No can do,
You'll just have to keep on singing the blues,
And be sure to spot the heron before he spots you!"

Until He Cries

It's late September
And, oh, what a joy!
Cruisin' down the road
With my bouncin' baby boy

Wind-blown hair
With sun in my eyes
And, oh, what a joy!
Until he cries